Pants typically have horizontal pocket openings at the left and right front or sides of pants. However, access to these pockets by the wearer is not as convenient or logical as one may think. With the pocket opening horizontal high on the sides, the pants wearer must raise their hands and enter the pocket by bending at the elbow and wrist in order to align the hand with the pocket. Moreover, with the pocket openings at the lateral positions, the fabric line at the hips is unflatteringly and unfashionably disrupted. As a further concern, lateral pocket openings provide opportunities for pick pockets to gain access to pockets with reduced likelihood of detection.
Attempts have been made to provide more elegant and secure pockets. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,498,048, to Neinken, a pocket is sewn into the tongue fly of a pair of trousers. However, access to the pocket is poor and the pocket is necessarily small.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,494, to Knoppel, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,865, to Fjelsul, each provide a large pocket mounted across the outside front of a pair of trousers. However, the pants may appear somewhat inelegant and create issues around the logistics of changing the pants and providing for convenient private bodily functions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,914, to Tarr, provides a removable pocket that mounts along the top hem of pants with the body of the pocket suspended down inside the upper pants. This invention seems to provide good security, but less convenient access to pocket contents.
In view of the above, a need exists for a pockets having improved ergonomic access. It would be desirable to have pants with large pockets that are not distractingly mounted across the front of pants, and without interfering with traditional pants closure systems. The present invention provides these and other features that will be apparent upon review of the following.